Manmohan Singh calls on P Chidambaram: 'Hope courts will do justice'

The Congress on Monday threw its full weight behind party leader P Chidambaram, underscoring that it believes the former Union finance minister was a victim of “political vendetta” and not involved in any corruption, with former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi meeting him at Tihar Jail.

Singh and Sonia Gandhi met Chidambaram, lodged in Tihar Jail since September 5 in connection with the INX media case, along with his son and Lok Sabha member Karti Chidambaram. The meeting lasted its permitted duration of half an hour.

In a statement issued later in the evening, Singh said the party is “concerned with continued detention in custody” of their colleague. The former prime minister said, “We are confident, and we sincerely hope, that the courts will render justice in this case.”

“In our system of government, no decision can be taken by any single person. All decisions are collective decisions recorded in files. A dozen officers, including six secretaries to the government, examined and recommended the proposal. Minister Chidambaram approved the unanimous recommendation,” Singh said.

“If the officers are not at fault, it is beyond our comprehension how the minister, who simply approved the recommendation can be accused of committing an offence. If the minister is liable for approving a recommendation, the whole system of government will collapse,” he said.

On Friday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had also held a press briefing to argue that the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) had cleared the INX Media investment. Chidambaram, who had asked his family to tweet on his behalf, said he was honoured that the two leaders visited him.